SPP Event: DC Adequacy - What do we mean by “adequate”?
This is the third event in an SPP series exploring DC adequacy.Online
Tuesday 6 October 2026
09:30-10:45
The final session in our DC adequacy series will explore one of the most important questions facing the pensions industry: what does an adequate retirement outcome look like, and how can we measure progress towards achieving it? With speakers from the Resolution Foundation and the Living Wage Foundation, our panel will explore questions such as:
- What do we mean by “adequate”, and what targets should we be using?
- How does adequacy differ across different member cohorts?
- How can we mitigate key risks (including housing and later life care)?
- How can adequacy standards be applied in a way that works for savers in practice?
- What role can government policy play in delivering adequacy?
Speakers
Shelley Morris,
Head of Business Development & Policy, Living Wage Foundation
Shelley has 20 years experience in defined contribution pensions and joined the Living Wage Foundation in 2021 to lead the delivery of Living Pension. Formerly at Friends Provident and Aviva, she spent a decade as a Client Relationship Manager and later worked on proposition development and digital services for workplace pensions. Shelley was awarded the Unsung Hero award at the Professional Pensions ‘Women in Pensions’ awards in 2023 for her work on developing and launching Living Pension.
Martin Willis
Partner, Barnett Waddingham
Martin is a partner and senior client relationship manager. He leads Barnett Waddingham’s defined contribution (DC) services to the Charity and Education sectors, and currently holds the position of Chair on the Society of Pension Professionals’ DC Committee.
He advises a range of not-for-profit organisations operating in the Arts & Culture, and Religious sectors, and beyond this provides consultancy support to a wide range of corporate and trustee clients, both UK and multi-national.
James Smith,
Chief Economist, Resolution Foundation
James joined the Foundation as Research Director in October 2018 and has been Chief Economist since February 2026. Prior to this he worked in a range of roles at the Bank of England and in the civil service, leading analysis of macroeconomic issues for policy. His work focuses on wealth, debt and housing as well as leading the Foundation’s work on macroeconomic policy.
Dr Amanda Cooke (Chair)
Of Counsel, CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP (Chair)
Dr Amanda Cooke is Of Counsel in the pensions team at CMS and advises trustees, employers and pension providers on a wide range of pensions law, governance and regulatory matters.
Alongside her legal practice, Amanda is recognised for her thought leadership on pensions adequacy, retirement income policy, defined contribution pensions, behavioural finance and retirement decision-making. She currently serves as Chair of the Society of Pension Professionals’ Financial Services Regulation Committee and is a frequent contributor to industry discussions on the future of UK retirement provision. Amanda has led several responses to consultations including on Targeted Support, is a contributing author to the Society of Pension Professionals’ thought leadership paper Home Truths: Rethinking Retirement Wealth, which explores the relationship between housing wealth, pension saving, financial resilience and retirement income.
Amanda holds a PhD focused on pensions, automatic enrolment and behavioural finance, examining how behavioural economics can be used to improve retirement saving outcomes and influence pension policy. Her academic research has informed her ongoing interest in how regulatory design, defaults and consumer decision-making affect long-term retirement security. She is also the author of Pensions and Legal Policy (Bloomsbury Professional), which explores the relationship between pensions law and public policy and examines how legal frameworks influence retirement saving, adequacy and pension system design. Her wider publications and presentations have addressed pension adequacy, targeted support, retirement income solutions, automatic enrolment, innovation in decumulation and value for money reforms, reflecting her commitment to improving retirement outcomes for future generations.
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